How Can You Help?

The community of Harrop-Procter has taken on a HUGE challenge. A small group of individuals with the support and volunteer help of the majority of the community have endeavored to manage the forest resources that surround their tiny communities. The reason for this bold initiative is to protect one of the worlds’s dwindling resources: clean drinking water. In 1995, with an ambitious idea and few resources, the community grappled with political decisions regarding forest stewardship that might have jeopardized the quality and availability of their water.

Now almost a decade later, the community has developed a plan, that is still in progress, which has employed local people as well as people from across the province while endeavoring to stay true to its original purpose: protecting water.

The costs of practicing this kind of forestry are not compatible with the volume-based forest industry. This type of forestry requires more attention to wildlife habitat, water resources, non-timber forest products, soil stability and public participation. It is a model of sustainable business development that will take longer to provide a profit in the industry it is competing in.